The CBI suspects that the abductors of Jodhpur’s auxiliary nurse-cum-folk singer Bhanwari Devi, 36, may have killed her. She was kidnapped last month.

The CBI suspects that the abductors of Jodhpur’s auxiliary nurse-cum-folk singer Bhanwari Devi, 36, may have killed her. She was kidnapped last month.

A CBI source said the agency suspects that Devi was first killed, then burnt in a lime kiln by the group of men who abducted her on September 1.

“The probe indicated that Devi was killed by the hired men. In a bid to destroy the body and forensic evidence, her body was then burnt in a lime-kiln by the killers,” the source added.

The killers allegedly acted on the basis of instructions issued by a suspect, who had contacted them for the job. The agency is questioning several suspects and examining leads.

Devi, a resident of Jodhpur district’s Berunda village, had left for Bilada on September 1 at 1pm on a Rajasthan Roadways bus to collect payment for a car she had sold, according to the CBI source.

“Her husband had attempted to contact her by phone but she was untraceable. His attempt to contact the car’s buyer also proved unsuccessful,” said the source.

The FIR had, acting on a court's order, named a former state minister as an accused under sections 376 (rape), among others. The nurse was allegedly featured in a CD in a compromising manner with the former minister.